Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

73R1L on cover with a 3-bar New York CDS. The line recut in the upper-left triangle is a long one. I believe this is a paler shade of experimental orange brown:

One can't tell the shade of a stamp from a scan or photo on a discussion board. There are too many variables: scanner, the post on the board, then the calibration of the monitor. Anyway, to be salable, you'd have to send it for a certificate. The recut line's length doesn't matter: many positions show equally long lines.

I think I'll give myself a birthday present next month and finally join the USPCS.

mostlyclassics

Oh boy, looks like we have a new expert member. FWIW, I agree with you CC.

Thanks, sinclair2010.

I think I've told this story before, but on the subject of Experimental OBs, I was talking with Wilson Hulme one day, about these.

He mentioned the correspondence of "G Parker Esq, at Deep River, Ct" as being an odd one where all known covers, at the time, were franked with a 3c stamp of the rare Dull Experimental OB color. I'm pretty sure it was "Dull" - maybe "Pale Dull".

So, I dutifully scoured my 3c covers, and, what do you know - a "G Parker Esq" cover. I had one. So it had to be Dull Exp OB, right?

It turns out I had a real rarity - a cover addressed to G Parker Esq, that was "not" Dull Exp OB.
. So it was unique. A true (non)rarity.

Anyway, I recall that, as Wilson and I had a real belly laugh over that one. I still have the cover.

CC, that looks like nice color on your 73R1l, at least on my monitor. It looks like the right outer frameline drops just a tick below the bottom frameline, too.

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks, mootermutt987. And, you're welcome.

Here are a pair of covers from Brattleborough (now Brattleboro), Vermont.

The stamp on the first cover is from plate 1L (unplated), and canceled with a New Years Day Jan 1 hand stamp. It appears to have been affixed with added adhesive. I wonder if it was used during the period when the adhesive applied during the manufacturing process performed poorly.

The stamp on the second cover is a beautiful (in hand) yellowish rose red color, and it was plated to sheet position 36L8 by Leo J. Shaughnessy.

Hi Classic Coins --

Your 73R1L on cover is a beauty -- and the impression is a very early printing from plate 1L -- surely used in December 1851 -- and which the 3-bar NY CDS corroborates. I also agree that the color looks EOB (at least on my monitor) which also fits with the time of usage.

As far as the the stamp being "salable" -- if you ever want to sell it, I would be happy to purchase it without a cert -- although admittedly, unless there is something special about the cover, I would probably soak off the stamp and mount it in my color chart. I know, philatelic blasphemy .

Again -- a first rate stamp -- thanks for showing it.

Regards // ioagoa

Hi ioagoa, I Appreciate the feedback.

I agree, the 73R1L would look swell off cover. As long the addressee is not significant from a postal history perspective, I would have no reservations about removing it.

There is a tinge of beautiful color to that 36L8! Nice to see. I am looking at your 73R1l again, and it almost looks like the extra line in the UL triangle might be a 'slip' - it doesn't stay straight and appears to 'thin out' as it gets to the bottom of the triangle. There are (what appear to be) a number of engraver 'slips' in this era - I wonder if this is one.

I agree the 73R1L is a cool stamp, which definitely has the Exp OB look to it - at least from the scan.

Your other plate 1L stamp, however, I spent more time on.

I'm often intrigued by separation. It is scissor-separated on two sides, and I finally decided mostly that it is torn apart on the other two sides.

I've learned to look closely, after being burned on letting a rouletted item that I spotted get away from me without more careful exploration. I think that there are more rouletted stamps out there than people realize. Maybe not a ton of them, but ... more are out there.

Laurie--Yes, it is a Type II Sc. #14.

txstamp, I found your comments on separation of the plate 1L stamp on the Brattleborough cover interesting.

I just plated the stamp to sheet position 53R1L. It has recut #23 – Left Inner Line Runs Up Too Far.